Winner of the Carnegie Medal is.....

Kevin Brooks THE BUNKER DIARY wins the CILIP Carnegie Medal for 2014.

 "CHILDREN DON'T NEED HAPPY ENDINGS" SAY WINNERS OF UK'S MOST PRESTIGIOUS CHILDREN'S BOOK AWARDS

CILIP Carnegie winner Kevin Brooks, speaking at the ceremony, said: "There is a school of thought that no matter how dark or difficult a novel is, it should contain at least an element of hope. As readers, children - and teens in particular - don't need to be cossetted with artificial hope that there will always be a happy ending. They want to be immersed in all aspects of life, not just the easy stuff. They're not babies, they don't need to be told not to worry, that everything will be all right in the end, because they're perfectly aware that in real life things aren't always all right in the end. To be patronizing, condescending towards the reader is, to me, the worst thing a Young Adult fiction author can do."